Delhi Waveriders and Kalinga Lancers all set to meet in Delhi tomorrow

Delhi Waveriders will be eyeing the top position of the points table whilst Kalinga Lancers looking to open their 2014 HHIL Campaign

29 January 2014, New Delhi: Delhi Waveriders and Kalinga Lancers will be playing against each other at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, Delhi tomorrow. Both teams will aim to win and go ahead in the points table. Delhi Waveriders in its 2 matches it has played, has bagged 1 win and lost 1 to Ranchi Rhinos. While Kalinga Lancers played their first match last evening against the Jaypee Punjab Warriors, where they were unable to secure the win in front of a packed stadium of Bhubaneswar.

With 1 win, 1 loss and 6 points in its kitty, Delhi Waveriders would want to earn another 5 points tomorrow to sit on the top of the HHIL 2014 table. In their last match against the Ranchi Rhinos, the team played well but lost the match in the 63^rd minute when finally Rhinos scored the lone goal of the match which won the game for them. Playing in front of their home crowd tomorrow, Delhi Waveriders will look at converting the chances they get against the Kalinga Lancers and win the match.

Kalinga Lancers post their disappointing opening yesterday will want to come back hard in the League and against the Delhi Waveriders tomorrow. They understand that the League has just started for them and they still have another 9 matches in the league round to prove that they should be a team to look out for. During their match against Jaypee Punjab Warriors, Gonzalo Peillat scored 2 goals for the team and Terry Walsh will look at him converting the chances tomorrow yet again against the opponents.

Speaking on their must win match tomorrow against Delhi Waveriders, Captain Probodh Tirkey said “This is a young team but against Delhi Waveriders but we are confident that our performance will not let our fans down this time. The enitre team is disappointed the way we played yesterday against the Jaypee Punjab Warriors but I think as we were playing together for the first time, hence we lacked the required coordination. For the upcoming matches we are working on our passes, defense, attack and sticking to basics as these will be the key for us to go ahead in the tournament.”

Speaking on Olympian Dilip Tirkey, Prabodh further added “Dilip is guiding us and he has told us to focus in our next match tomorrow and we are working towards that. We are confident on our match tomorrowand we will play to win”.

Speaking on team and expectations Head Coach of Kalinga Lancers, Terry Walsh said “The team played poorly played in the first half of the last match. The defense was the main loophole which in a way costed us the match. The boys have to grow and play better in the upcoming matches. Tomorrow will be a combination of attack and defense and we hope to win the match tomorrow.”

Speaking on team preparations, Head Coach Delhi Waveriders, Cedric D’Souza said “Every match has its own pressures whether it is at home or away and the importance is performance. We need to implement our strategies and come back firing after our loss to Ranchi Rhinos in our last match. While the Kalinga Lancers is a completely new team, this team even as 5 new foreign players and 4 Indian players hence we cannot say that we have the edge of experience as compared to Lancers”.

Speaking on Kalinga Lancers and their match against them tomorrow Captain Sardar Singh said“This team has an advantage of experience as many players played with the League last year and this in a way will create some difference. We will stick to the strategy and play as a team and will not allow the pressure of playing in front of home crowd seep in.”

The game tomorrow is scheduled at Delhi and will be played at 8 pm. With Star Sports as the official broadcasters for the League, Hockey fans can catch the excitement LIVE on the channel.